ABOUT THIS OBJECT

This brochure contains separate maps of greater San Diego, downtown San Diego, San Diego’s “Rainbow Block,” and “Palm Springs & Cathedral City,” and is packed with advertisements for restaurants, health clubs, saunas, publications, and other goods and services listed in a phone director. Combining use with beauty, the map features “Mr. Desert Palms Inn 1994,” Christopher Sexton.

“Fun Maps” were created and published beginning in 1981 by Alan Beck, who describes himself as “One of the pioneers in #GayTravel for over 25 years” in his twitter account (@FunTravelAlan); his work has earned him accolades such as the President’s Award of the International Gay and Lesbian Travel Association. In Gay and Lesbian Tourism: The Essential Guide for Marketing, Beck is described as the most experienced person in the gay map publishing business: “His maps can be found in nearly every gay bar and coffee shop in the United States and Canada” (89). While “Fun Maps” was sold in 2015 to Multimedia Platforms, which later filed for bankruptcy, Beck has more recently created “Fun Travel Guides,” which continues the work of “Fun Maps” in finding and partnering with businesses and accommodations that “effectively reach and sensitively serve the LGBTQ+ communities.”